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Background
The Washington State Legislature created SFF in 2020. It provided seed funding for the Conservation Commission to design the program framework in partnership with the Washington State Department of Agriculture, Washington State University, and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Download program fact sheets in English and Spanish.
SFF is part of the Washington Soil Health Initiative (WaSHI)
The Washington Soil Health Initiative (WaSHI) is a partnership between the Washington State Conservation Commission, the Washington State Department of Agriculture, and Washington State University.
WaSHI establishes a coordinated approach to promoting healthy soils in Washington through research, outreach and education, and funding opportunities throughout Washington’s diverse regions and cropping systems.
Learn more about WaSHI:
Examples of potential grant-eligible activities include:
- Providing personalized and on-site technical expertise, such as developing climate-smart farm plans.
- Sharing the cost of climate-smart practices/projects, such as planting trees/shrubs, implementing no-till/direct seed, managing manure storage and application, planting cover crops, composting/mulching, and purchasing precision agriculture equipment/technology.
- Purchasing seed, spores, animal feed, and soil amendments.
- Purchasing shared-use equipment (e.g., no-till planter) that will be made available through local entities, such as conservation districts or farm co-ops.
- Demonstration projects showcasing a practice eligible through SFF that is not commonly used in an area and must include a substantial outreach component OR demonstration projects used to gather more information about the feasibility and impact of a practice that is not yet eligible but shows promise as a climate-smart practice.
SFF in the News
- COMET Quarterly, COMET-Farm Newsletter, June 2023 | COMET-Tools in Action: Sustainable Farms and Fields (SFF)
- The Chronicle, June 2023 | No-Till Drill Seeding Machines Now Available to Rent at Farm Store Thanks to Lewis Conservation District Program
- Washington State University, Soil Health, March 2023 | We Have Liftoff! Sustainable Farms and Fields Program Has Launched
- SCC Media Release, Nov 2022 | Sustainable Farms and Fields Program Funding Open for Voluntary Climate-Smart Projects
- WaSHI blog by Karen Hills, Sept. 2023 | Where the Magic Happens: Climate-Smart Practices Funded through Sustainable Farms and Fields Program
Additional Resources & Information:
- Application FAQ (updated June 2025)
- SFF Application Questions
- Report form for current projects (due July 10)
- Prioritization metrics
- Sustainable Farms and Fields Technical Advisory and Review Committee (April 2024)
- List of funded projects in 2024
- Soil Carbon Science 101 | Oct. 6
Questions about the Sustainable Farms and Fields Program? Please contact the SFF Team at sff@scc.wa.gov.
Sustainable Farms & Fields Climate-Smart Livestock
Background
One-time funding of $30,000,000 from the Climate Investment Account was appropriated for the 2023-25 biennium to the Washington State Conservation Commission Sustainable Farms and Fields program for organic agricultural waste and greenhouse gas emissions reduction through climate-smart livestock management. View the proviso.
This one-time funding resulted in two new grant opportunities during the 2023-25 biennium.
- Alternative Manure Management
- Research and Demonstration
Dairy Anaerobic Digesters has moved to the Department of Commerce (see the Dairy Anaerobic Digesters section below for more information).
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Alternative Manure Management Funding
The funding's objective is to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with manure handling systems from baseline levels at dairy and livestock farms in Washington through grants to conservation districts and other public entities for project implementation.
This funding is open to conservation districts and other public entities only. Interested producers should contact their CD, WSU Extension Office, or local climate-smart government program.
Projects must occur on livestock operations where manure is stored in anaerobic (liquid)form and may include multiple components of a manure handling system, associated upstream and downstream components needed to accommodate the change to the manure management system, including transporting manure for eventual field application.
$2,900,000 in funding was reappropriated in the 2025-2027 biennium to support alternative manure management activities. This funding is from the Climate Commitment Account. SCC expects to announce an application round for this funding in summer 2025— stay tuned!
CARB AMMP Tool
Applicants for SFF Alternative Manure Management are asked to use the CARB AMMP Tool modified for Washington to estimate greenhouse gas emissions reductions for their projects, where possible. SFF Program Manager, Karen Hills, walks through how to use the tool in a webinar from 2024. Please scroll to the bottom of this page to view it.
Updates
- A report to the legislature from SCC providing information on projects funded through the SFF Climate-Smart Livestock Management program is now available, here.
- View projects funded under Sustainable Farms & Fields, SFF Climate-Smart Livestock Management Research & Demonstration, and Alternative Manure Management.
- A list of funded Alternative Manure Management Projects for 2023 - 2025 is available here.
This opportunity is supported with funding from Washington’s Climate Commitment Act. The CCA puts cap-and-invest dollars to work reducing climate pollution, creating jobs, and improving public health. Information about the CCA is available at www.climate.wa.gov.
